“Do not worry about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be known to God. And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard you hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.”
~Philippians 4:6-7 (NRSV).
We, by our natures, care too much about life, and it’s love—whether self-love or love for others—that causes this. We ponder and we fret.
The Apostle Paul’s concluding charge in Philippians chapter 4 is about as inspiring as Scripture could get, so he’s found in a mood to encourage us out of our worry and into action.
We’re told to pray, not worry. Petitioning God with our pleas, in the underpinning mood of thanksgiving, we don’t leave ourselves wondering, for God already knows what we want from what we need (Matthew 6:8). Making our thoughts known to ourselves, by speaking them aloud, we allow the Lord to speak into our hearts and minds. He serenades us with the truth about ourselves.
Then Peace
Having prayed—thankfully, adroitly, and at peace with the Lord—we then draw on this peace that transcends human knowledge.
Surely we’ve all felt this peace that can only come from the Holy Spirit, quelling the heart’s desire, fear, and flailing hope?
It is a feeling that—with all of what’s going on—there should be fear, unease and clamour, but there isn’t. A strange calm fills the heart and mind—guarded as they are in Christ Jesus—as faith is executed in our living minute.
This is not the absence of fear or desire. It’s the ordinate acknowledgement of the facts, then the spiritual acceptance of same, and even though effect is felt at some levels, effect doesn’t paralyse us.
Make a Study
If this concept perplexes you, make a study of those Christians you trust who seem to have this peace. Their testimonies are worth gold in your quest for this peace that catapults us with grace through our struggles.
Prayer is the way there.
© 2011 S. J. Wickham.
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